The gnome's ring

The weather in the Alps had been perfect when Jim departed from the summit station of the cable car. He had hiked for about an hour and now was on his way down into a small valley, heading for an alp, where he planned to make a break at a hut. It was managed and he was looking forward to eat something small and have some cool drink. He just was climbing down a narrow, rocky pass and stopped for a second to take some pictures of the beautiful landscape, as he heard a noise from the distance. It sounded like someone panting heavy. Quickly he pulled out his binoculars and checked into the direction the noise had come from.

First he only saw a field of rocks on the opposite mountainside, then he noticed something small moving between the rocks. First he thought it was a small animal, but then he noticed some human characteristics. Jim watched for a moment and realized that the person seem to be stuck. Maybe he had left the path and was hit by a rock? Regardless Jim climbed over some rocks himself and made his way over to where he had seen the person.

“Hey, are you alright?” he called as he climbed over some big boulders. “Are you injured?” The person was a bit higher and so he had to climb up a few meters again through the field of rocks. Finally he turned around another boulder and stopped in his steps. The person in front of him looked like an adult man, with a beard and aged face, but only had the size of a young child. “What?” escaped Jim's mouth and for a moment both he and the creature were frozen, staring at each other.

Then Jim noticed that the small man was stuck with his leg below a large rock and without asking any more questions, he rushed over and pushed himself against the rock, trying to lift it far enough to free the creature. A moment later it pulled its leg from under the rock and tumbled away from it.

“Uh, uh, that could've ended bad for me,” the little creature said and tumbled weaken to a small rock where it sat down. Then it looked up to Jim. “Thanks human, I am stuck below that stupid rock for a couple days now and I don't think I would've made it much longer.”

“Can I offer you a snack or something to drink?” Jim asked and pulled out his water bottle, which the creature grabbed and gulped down.

“Oh, that is good,” it said and then grabbed a landjäger sausage from Jim's hand and took a good bite. “I am Torick and as you can see, I'm a gnome. A thankful gnome.”

“A gnome? I read some fairy-tales about you.. Shouldn't you have magic abilities? Why did you not just made the rock disappear?”

“It's gneiss rock,” the gnome said and kicked a small stone to the side. “It's the core of the mountain and therefore you can't use magic on it which comes from the mountains.”

He then hopped down his stone and stretched his legs a bit. Then he looked at Jim. “Now, I think you deserve some reward,” he said. “What would you like to have? Some pile of gold?”

Jim looked a bit surprised and realized that he didn't really know what he wanted. “Oh, don't know. A pile of gold probably would be nice to have, but on the other hand, not sure.”

Torick looked at him again and seemed to ponder himself. “Yeah, to be honest, the gold thing is a bit cliché.” Then suddenly he seemed to have a better idea. Jim watched how he grabbed a branch of a small tree and turned it into a ring. Then he put it on a stone and held his hand over it. Metal seemed to come out of the stone and intertwined with the wood.

“Here,” the gnome said and handed Jim the ring. “Don't look to surprised. It is a powerful gnome ring. Well, I mean powerful for a human. I think you will like it, it can alter reality for you humans. Here, take it.”

Jim took the ring and put it on his finger. It felt strange, tingling. He moved his hand and examined the ring from all sides. “How do I use it?” he asked and Torick rolled his eyes.

“Seems I have to show you. First, teleportation. Down there you see the alp? I assume you were on the way to it? The humans often walk there. Now focus yourself on the thought of being there and snap your finger. Close your eyes if that helps to focus.”

Jim closed his eyes and tried to imagine the alp hut further down the mountainside. He snapped his ginger and felt a strange feeling rush through his body. When he opened his eyes again, he stood near the entrance of the alp, a pleased looking gnome sitting on a small rock nearby.

“Was really easy, wasn't it?” Torick said and looked over to the hut, where several guests were having their meals. A young woman was serving dishes and heading in and out of the hut from time to time with orders. “Now, let us have some fun.”